Pneumatic heel-cushion.



w. L. GoRnoN.

PNEUMATIG HEEL HION.l APPLIUATIONHLEDD .1905.

W/ TNE SSE S.' 70H A 7TOHNEYS MTBN'TEI) 0012, 1906-.- l

-. To 'all whomit may concern:

l Be it known thatl I, WILLIAM LEONAR GORDON, a citizen ofthe UnitedStates, and a resident of Deal, in the county of Monmouth and StateofNew Jersey, have invented a 'new and -Improved Pneumatic Heel-Cushion,lof Awhich the 'following is a full, clear, and ex- UNITED STATES PATENT.WILLIAM'LEONARD GORDON,- or DEAL, NEW {.iERsEr. f

i PNEuMATlc HEEL-cusHloN. y'

tweezers.

. speeiseation of Letters Patent.

Patented oet. 2, 190e.

act description.- .v

y This vention relates to shoemaking.

The object of the yinvention is to produce a shoe'having a pneumaticcushion which will o eratefto'give elasticity to the tread and a shoe. yA

"'Theinvention -consists in the construction and'eombination of parts tobe more fully described hereinafter and'particularly set forthinthe'claims.

'Reference is to be hadl to the accompanying drawings, forming a part,of this specification, in which similar charactrs'of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section taken in a` vertical plane at theheel of the shoe constructed.` with my pneumatic. cushion. This vsection is takenion the line 1 1 of Fig. 3- Fig.

2 is a section taken substantiall on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1,-and-looklng upwar y, and Fig. 3 is agvertical section' taken on the line3 3 of Fin. i x(Ieferring more particularly to theparts, 1

represents the of the heel, from which the' 'shank'2 of thesole 3extends-forwardl as shown. This portion of theshoe may e of I counter 4,which attachesaround the edge of i the sole at the heel. -the sole 3Ifplace an msole 5, .the body 6 the usual construction, comprising theusual U on .the inner face of whereof consists, preferably, of a canyasieee .cut to the proper last. At the heel this msole is supported uponmy pneumatic cushion 7. 'This pneumatic cushion com rises a body or pad8, preferably formed 'of ru ber orsim'ilar. elastic material. This ofathin sheet 9 ,preferably of ru under face whereof I forma plurality ofribs or corrugations designated collectively by the numeral 10. These'ribs 10 are of elon-V gated horseshoe form, as indicated most clearly inFig. 2, comprising oppositely-disposed limbs 11, whic j and which areconnected byb'ows 1'2 at the rear; Certain of these ribs, such as' theribs 10, are of greaterheight than the others and pro'ect below thesame, so that the nor' ma y is disposed,fas shown in and 3.

o assist in Ventilating the interior of the 'such as steel. shown' mostclearly in Fig. 2.

infissi.

'converge forwardly Application filed December 13,1905. Serial No.291,592.

In. this'way an air-space 13 is formed under the pad and between thesheet 9 andthe upper ace of the sole- In addition to4 the ribs '10 Iprovide the sheet 9 with a 'downwardly-projecting iianlge 14, whichextends alongfthe outer ed e lof same, as shown. At the front this ange14 extends transversely of the sole, formin'ga bar 14a/of reducedheight, and at the rear and sides it. lies close against the innerface'vofethe counter, as indicated most clearlyin Fig. 3.

Itpreferably ta ers sli htl toward its lower P i Y extremity. Between te ribs 10 referred to labove and between the said ribs and* the flange14 I provide -intermediate ribsor conrugations 10b, which aresubstantially similar in form tothe ribs 1'0", but do not project ldownwardly to such an extent.

v To the under side vof the sheet 9 I attach a frame A16, preferably.formed of light metal, e form 'of this frame is It comprisesoppositely-extending arms 17, which incline forwardly, as indicated.From their oint of juncture a tongue 18 extends rearwar ly, and thistongue constitutes aleaf-spring, as indicated most clearly in Fig. 1,and rests upon the under side of the sheet 9, tending to su port thesame. The outer extremities of t e arms 17 are connected by a bow 19,which lies in the space between rtwo of the. adjacent corrugations', asshown in Fig. 2. This bow is also resilient and presses downwardly atits extremity upon the upper face of the sole. The function of thisframe will appear more hereinafter. v l e upper face of the Asheet 9 isattached to a .sheet or strip 2() of suitable fabric, such as canvas,the parts bein cemented or connected together in any suitable manner. Uon the up er side of this canvas sheet and etween 1t and theaforesaidinsole 6 I place a sliver 21, preferably of cork, and this sliver taperstoward its forward extremity so'that it comes substantially tol an edgeatv the for-l ward extremity of the pad.

IOO

When ressure comes upon the heel of the A shoe, as m walking, thecushion 7 becomes essed' by the'weight above. The air inclosed b theflange 14 operates as an aircushion w en compressed. As the greatestpressure-is exerted towardthe heel, a quantity ofthe entrapped air isforced forwardly .underlthe bar 14.

The ribs 10 assist'in con- -tracting the air-space by expanding under 1pressure and -tend4 to force the air forwardly. v i

return the cushion to its normai Condition'.

. claim es new and desire to' seeure by Letters While the lintermeriieteribs 1G" assist in this operation to si eer'tein extent, theysubstantieiiy arrest the downwardmovement of the heel of the foot. Assoon es the weight is removed from the heel es e step is teken thespring or tongue 18 und the bow 19 operate to In this wey the eil whichhas been forced forwardly, es described, will find its wey beck underthe heel-pad. Evidently in walking;A the cushion operates to 'produce agood ven.- tiiation within the interior of the shoe, While at' the sametime it cushions the vshock and jar ofthe heel when 'it comes upon theground or pavement.' The siiver or cork? operates to i absorbthe'rnois'ture which ma be given 'off by the foot within tho' shoe en'this of course has opportunity to dry out et night when the shoeisremove 'y y I Having thus `described I my invention, i

Patentl 1. pneumatic Cushion adapted 'toy be Worn et the heel of e shoeand consisting of e psd having eorrugations on the under fece vthereofextending in e front and' rear direc tion, and e resilient freinetending to support seid peri above the soie of the shoe whereby, inwalking, the air under said pad is forced forwerdi 2. A pneumaticcushion adapted to be worn at the heel of a, shoe and consisting of eed. having a, plurality of ribs on the under ace thereof, seid vribsbeing of substantiallyl :horseshoe form with the bows thereof disposerearwardly, 'said ribs being disposed epert whereby channels are formedopening forwardly, ende rib surrounding the aforesaid ribs and havingits forward extremities eon'neete'd' bye transverse bar beyond the.

\ openings from said channels. i

` In' 'testimony whereof I have signed my :neme to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses. I f

' WILLIAM LEONARD GORDON. Witnesses:

MiLAN Ross,

E CQ VAN CLEAF.

